Writing Poetry vs. Writing About Poetry: Are They the Same?
Although they may seem similar, writing poetry and writing about poetry are two completely different tasks.
When reading poetry in order to write about it, you are analyzing and focusing on every detail of the poem that comes together to portray the theme or important message of the poem. This includes word choice, tone, structure, figurative language, and more. When writing about poetry, you have to try to get in the mind of the author and think about what their intentions were in writing the poem. You also need to do a deep dive on the poem to be able to discuss the poem, in order to find important details, such as the time period and historical context.
Having to write two poems in the past week, I definitely noticed a difference in comparison to all of the argumentative writing I am usually doing. I had to enter the mindset of an author in a different way, in hopes that I could write something I find good. Viewing the poetic elements used by famous poets, I kept in mind that I also had to include various poetic elements in order to bring my message to life. During the writing process, I feel like I was a little hard on myself because after reading some of the most famous poems, I wished for my own work to sound like theirs, even though I know it will not. This is due to the fact that I have never been good at creative writing–or rather, do not feel confident in my skill–but I did enjoy getting to write poems because I felt more confident in my abilities in comparison to when I last wrote a poem, two years ago.
Having completed both of these activities, I know I will for sure implement them in my future classroom. I believe writing poetry and writing about poetry will allow my students to improve their analytical skills and help familiarize themselves with poetry. I think it will be helpful to introduce this by having them reflect on the poems we will cover in class.
Overall, I thought it was excellent practice and I believe it will not only benefit my future classroom, but me as well!
Hey Gabriela!
ReplyDeleteI also experienced something similar when writing my two poems. It was difficult to channel a writer’s mindset when everything we’ve done in school is analytical. I have gotten extremely used to looking for a deeper meaning in everything that I read, that when I was trying to create I felt the need to compare it to the famous authors we’ve been reading about. Although I know my work does not reflect anything close to Shakespeare or Keats, reading their poems and learning more about the poetic elements gave me a much better understanding when trying to implement those same elements into my work. Since we first read, then listened, and finally wrote about a poem, I began to understand poetry a lot more which made it easier to write my own. I believe that process helped me write my poems, even thoughI struggled a bit. I think the process of reading and understanding will help our students feel comfortable writing their own poems.
-Antonieta Mariscal